The Icrontic Gun Thread

THIS IS NOT A DEBATE THREAD
Icrontic isn't the place for debating gun control, the morality of hunting, personal protection and concealed carry, and all the other topics that seem to get people fired up when it comes to shooting.

Who shoots here? I don't care if you punch holes in paper or hunt. What enjoy plinking with?

I went to the local range Sunday afternoon with my Makarov pistol and put 50 rounds of 9x18mm ammo through it. Every time I shoot it, I'm amazed at the simplicity and accuracy of the gun.

My friend's younger brother brought his Bushmaster AR-15 along, so I had my first experience firing one of those. I found the .223 to have little recoil, but the gun was rather boring to shoot and pretty uncomfortable to shoulder. It felt light and plasticy, had trouble cycling rounds, and had the most unresponsive trigger ever. I don't see what all the fuss is about or why they're so popular yet. Surely a it had to do with how his was set up. I'd like to try one that's set up more for target shooting instead of a wannabe military tactical setup.

I've got another buddy who does just that. He has a .22 pistol that he takes to the range and uses as a stress reliever. A .22 is inexpensive and the ammo is about the cheapest out there so you can blast through a brick of it in an afternoon. It's a good way to get out of the house. Provided your parents head's don't explode, I'd do it.

My pal has a glock 9 mm of some kind. He has let me test shoot it in the wilderness. Other than that my only experience with firearms is the 12 and 20 gauge hunting shot-guns that I used hunting with my grandfather (3 seasons)
The 12 was pump and beautiful= but had one hell of a kick! Would not want to be on the receiving end of that killler!

I used to love shooting, My father in law used to be range warden at our local naval base.Happy days smith and wesson 38 special, 9mm colt ,.357 magnum ( My fave )
Saturday morning spent loading the rounds weighing the black powder etc. Sunday morning reward time :bigggrin: I also enjoyed clay pigeon shooting, Remington automatic shottie was fun. don't get to do pistol shooting in the UK anymore , and all gun ownership is under a draconian .......................sorry was almost drawn OT . .357 magnum just felt right same for the Remington over and under shotgun.

Some of the most fun I've had at the range has been with magnum caliber pistols. Favorite range gun now is an M1 Garand with my own 30.06 loads. I also have another WWII gun (WWI also), an M1903, which I haven't fired yet. I haven't reloaded yet since moving back to Alaska. overdue

I used to hunt - starting at age 13 with a lil clipfed 22. A friend would loan me his 20 Gauge shotgun (And snowshoes) so I could go get lost during the winter. Much later, I got a 12 Gauge Remington pump with a swappable deer barrel, which I thought was the coolest thing! I haven't had a gun or hunted in over 10 years, but I still like to go hiking in the bush and I still feel that same excitement when I scare up something. I attribute my visual accuity, or.. the ability to discern objects (Such as prone ambushers and snipers) in FPS gaming, to my early experience hunting in the bush.

Do I shoot ?
I got my first .22 when I was 12. My dad and I would shoot on Saturday mornings in the summer. A lot of fun. We would always "Target" shoot. I have never been hunting. No desire
I have been shooting since about 1970. My favorites are handguns , so much so that I make my living building high end custom handguns. I have been a full time Pistolsmith for the last 10 years. I get up every day and have to play with guns all day, tough job . :bigggrin: My work has been featured in several magazines and I have a waiting list of about 6 months. Also a member of the [URL="htthttp://www.americanpistol.com/guild_member.php?mbrid=47p://"]American Pistolsmith Guild [/URL]
I even built a single shot .50BMG rifle. It is a lot of fun to shoot.( But not many places to shoot it )With the building , testing and competition I shoot several times a week.

I've gone "hunting" but this involves sitting with my dad and freezing my ass off all morning, while my dad intentionally misses the deer that walked by.

My dad's been hunting for the last twelve years, and has never shot an animal

But anyways, I own a WW2-era M1 Garand (with a bayonet!) that I use to target shoot on our private land in northern Michigan. I don't keep it at home, cause I don't have a gun safe, so I use my dad's.

My dad, being a career police officer, has a few handguns. I grew up shooting them. We also have a .22 rifle.

The M1 is a blast to shoot. Surprisingly low kick, but you can feel the power behind it. Nothing at all like shooting a .22

I've also shot 12- and 20-gauge shotguns. One time my poor grandma wanted to shoot the 12 gauge and it knocked her right over But she laughed about it.

When Perry turns 12, he wants to go hunting with my dad. Luckily, my dad has taught the boys gun safety and respect for firearms the same way he did with me. Being that I don't keep guns at home, this is something he can impart to them, and I'm glad for it. I think kids who grow up learning gun safety and respect become adults who would never use a gun improperly.

I don't own a gun, myself, but I borrow my father's .22 rifle to go targetshooting with the Nexlia guys every once in a while.

Last time there was a special treat, as our buddy who always hosts the target shooting (he has a piece of property outside city-limits) brought a shotgun and some clay pigeon targets. We took turns launching them out over the trees for each other. I was much better at shooting the pigeons than I thought I'd be.

Shooting clays is awesome. I did it at summer camp one year for the Shotgun Merit Badge and had a blast. If I ever get a shotgun, it'll be for that purpose.

My "collection" is as follows.
- Makarov 9x18mm pistol. It's a sweet Bulgarian military model instead of the more common Russian consumer-grade models. My first pistol purchase.
- CZ 85 B. It's a 9mm with pre-ban 15rnd magazines. I had the choice of either the CZ or a Browning Hi-Power as a gift for my 21st birthday and chose the CZ because of its balance.
- Swiss K31 "schmidt-Rubin" rifle. This is my favorite rifle. The straight-pull bolt sets it apart from most bolt actions and is a fun conversation starter. It's extremely accurate, even over iron sights.
- Yugo M59/66 SKS. This is my first rifle purchase, and my first experience cleaning off cosmoline . Cleaning all the gunk off of it took a couple evenings, but it helped me learn a lot about how the gun works. The first time I took it shooting was a rewarding experience after seeing all the work that went into refurbishing it pay off.

In the future, I'd like to get my Curio and Relic license so I can pick up a few more old military guns. I'd also like to try a build of some sort; either a .45 like what scott builds, an AK variant, or a highly modified K31. It just comes down to time and money.

I enjoy shooting. I go with a buddy now and then when we have some time and spare cash to allow it. I do most of my shooting at my department's indoor range as all the practice ammo is free for us.

Weapons I own:

A tricked out Remington 870
Glock 21
Glock 30
S&W 642
Sig P220R

I'm currently carrying the Sig and the Smith on duty as sidearm and backup respectively. The Glocks are great guns, probably the best bang for buck pistol you can buy. Ridiculously reliable and maintenance free and very accurate. The Sig is the real gem in my family though, I love that thing. Just as reliable, I'm more accurate with it, and the grip is more comfy than the doublestack Glock.

All this talk of shooting, I'm gonna have to check the range schedule and go toss some rounds downrange on my days off this week. I don't hunt, never have and never will...not animals anyway...crackheads are another story.

First gun I ever fired was a .22, the second gun I ever fired as two minutes later and it was a 7.62 semi-automatic AK-47. I have no idea how any one could file a rifle like that on full auto and hit anything.

First gun I ever fired was a .22, the second gun I ever fired as two minutes later and it was a 7.62 semi-automatic AK-47. I have no idea how any one could file a rifle like that on full auto and hit anything.

Just like any automatic weapon:

Practice - 3-5 round bursts..

Just what they taught us in the military when using M-16, M16A2, or the M60E3 (SAW too).. Full Auto\Spray and pray, definately only works in the movies & video games....

I own 5 handguns, 2 shotguns and 3 rifles (inherited most of them and have only fired 3 out of the whole lot). I would love to go to an indoor range and do some target shooting, but I never seem to have the time. I fire my Marlin .22LR whenever the wild critters (or dogs) get after my livestock.

While I have nothing against hunting, I've never been and really have no desire to.

Pistols:
Husqvarna .380 auto semi auto pistol (inherited from my Grandpa) - and yes, the same company that makes the chain saws and lawn mowers. They also used to make some high quality guns back in the day.
S & W Model 27 .357 Mag revolver (first pistol I ever bought, when I was 18)
Ruger Super Blackhawk .357 Maximum target pistol (swapped a Rottweiler for it plus 500 rounds of ammo) - no longer manufactured and will be a collector's item in the future
Magnum Research Desert Eagle .44 Mag semi auto
Rossi .38 Special 4" barrel (inherited it from my Mom)

Awesomesauce GH. I'd thought about switching to a composite stock for my M59/66 since my wood stock is still tacky from all the cosmoline, but I'm going to try and refinish what I've got first with the traditional boiled linseed oil/bees wax/turpentine paste.

As for the P22, you've gotta get one! Two of my friends have them (one standard and one with the target barrel) and they're a blast. For the money, I don't think a better .22 pistol exists.

Oh, and you may wanna hold off on the P22 and get your C&R stuff first . The selection of good K31s is shrinking quickly and the prices have almost doubled since I got mine. Last I heard, there aren't any more export shipments of them coming from Europe. Makarov prices are going up a good bit too as the last mil-spec ones are coming in.

For stripping the cosmoline, you might try stripping the stock off the weapon and soaking it down with some gasoline (wearing rubber gloves of course) in an open area. That might strip the rest of the cosmoline out of the stock.

When I stripped the gun, I wrapped the stock in aluminum foil and "cooked" it so most of the cosmo wept out of the wood. All that's left is really just residue which should clean up with gasoline or mineral spirits. If that doesn't do it, I'll hit it with some acetone Although harsh cleaners like that will typically dry out the wood, the BLO/wax/turp mix should restore the moisture as well as give a nice, classic finish. Here's hoping. It's never easy when you're dealing with cosmoline.

I would recommend acetone over gasoline. Gasoline will leave a slight residue. Acetone won't. (Acetone is also perfect for cleaning heatsinks and computer chips. No, it does not interact with motherboard PCB.)

If the stock's wood is too dry after using the solvents, linseed oil makes an excellent conditioner. Apply it in very light coats, allowing the wood to 'dry' in between each application.

Does the stock have any dents in it? If so, you can remove them with an electric iron. Moisten a cloth - just moist, but not soaking wet, place it over the affected area and let set just long enough for the moisture to seep into the wood's pores, then apply heat. As the water turns into gas, it will lift the dented wood fiber back to it's original shape.

Don't use too much water and don't use too much heat. It's better to lift off the iron early and try again rather than to overdo it.

"There's any number of methods, but the old time stockmaker and furniture maker method is the safest for the wood and most effective.

You'll need a good solvent, preferably non-inflammable. The best is Triclorathane, commonly known as Clorathane.
Also a jar of "whiting", which is Calcium Carbonate. This is a white, flour-like powder.
You can buy whiting from Brownell's and from many local drug stores.

The actual method depends on whether your solvent is inflammable or not.

Mix the solvent up with whiting until you have a pancake batter consistency.

Apply a thick coat of the solvent-whiting to the wood, including the butt area and the inletting.
Depending on how big the stock is you can coat it a section at a time.

IF the solvent is non-inflammable, apply heat with a heat gun, or hold the wood over an ELECTRIC stove burner.

The solvent will soak into the wood and dissolve the grease and oil, and the heat will cause it to "boil" to the surface, where it will be absorbed by the whiting.

Normal methods using solvents, soaps, or other chemicals can bring the grease to the surface, BUT they can't lift it ABOVE the surface.
As soon as the solvent evaporates or the heat is removed, the gunk is re-absorbed into the wood before you can wipe it off, no matter how fast you try.

The whiting actually wicks the oil out of the wood and absorbs it, where it's held. This turns the whiting orange and brown.

Simply wipe the dirty whiting off and re-apply.
Usually 2-3 applications will return even a black grease soaked stock to it's natural color.

If you don't have a non-inflammable solvent, apply the whiting with whatever solvent you do have, then quickly wrap the stock up tightly in a black plastic trash bag, and lay it on a driveway or roof top in direct sunlight on a hot day.

Allow to stand for a few hours, then unwrap, brush off the dirty whiting and re-apply.

This method is much less damaging to the wood than using dishwashers, oven cleaner, or strong liquid cleaners, and unlike them, there's no chemicals or moisture to leech out of the wood later and damage the gun metal."

It would be advantageous to read some of the rest of the post to see the pitfalls of other methods like the lye method or oven cleaner method.

Thanks scott! That's one method I hadn't heard of and it sounds like it's really the best way to do it. I'm a member at surplusrifleforum.com, and most of those guys seem to like steam cleaning or wrapping the stock in kitty litter and baking in a solar oven, but those methods never seemed quite legit to me.

Woo! you think this subject has some controversy down there, come on up to Canada some time!:canflag:

Anyways, I decided earlier this year that I wanted to teach myself to shoot, so I went and got licensed for both non-restricted (shotgun, basic rifle) and restricted (handguns ((4.25" barrel or longer only in Canada, shorter is called 'prohibited')) and certain semi-automatic rifles, like AR-15's). Restricteds are for range use only, no such thing as handgun hunting or M-16 variant gopher gun up here.

Bought myself a CZ75 SP01 Shadow 9mm pistol and 3 Savage rifles - .22 Mark II, .223 thumbhole varmint/target, and 7mm Remington Magnum 110FP. Surprisingly, the big boomer is the best shooter of the bunch so far....but I'm also starting reloading, and still working on load development for the .223.

I have the bug bad and am considering purchasing a revolver and/or a .204 rifle for the upcoming gopher season Going to take IPSC training soon, now that I have 5-600 down the pipe of the CZ and find I'm a decent shot. Never gonna be the best shot around but practice does pay off in better results.

That was real informative, scott. I happen to have access almost unlimited supplies of calcium carbonate, since we commonly use this in drilling fluids as a lost circulation preventative measure. If I ever have to strip cosmoline off a weapon I will just take me a 50 lb sack of it home with me.

*sigh* It's been so long since I've been out shooting. I'll have to get some pics of Prag's guns that are hanging out at the house. Only his handguns are around, his rifles are all back at his house in central PA.

Um if you want to build a target rifle I would say don't use that, if its not semi-serious target shooting you should be fine. Check here if you are looking for where to begin, very general starting place.